Greece struggles to clinch rescue
(ATHENS) - Greece grappled Thursday with the notion of direct fiscal control from Brussels as it struggled to fulfill conditions of a eurozone debt rescue and overcome EU scepticism to avert bankruptcy.
As patience ran thin in Europe with Greek reform delays, tempers were rising in Athens towards a perceived toughening of rescue programme conditions and criticism of planned early elections in April.
"I doubt if any other parliament in the European Union could accept such a programme of fiscal management," said Minister of Citizen Protection Christos Papoutsis, a former EU commissioner.
European Union officials on Wednesday made clear they were stepping up surveillance of Greek state revenues and expenditure, with snap elections a cause for doubt about how reforms will be carried through.
Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager went a step further, warning the bailout may be delayed until after the vote.
"Ideally after the elections, you want to deal with rulers that you know will give their support to the package," De Jager was quoted in an interview with the influential Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was meeting with his political allies, the socialist and conservative party leaders, his office said, ahead of a cabinet meeting on Friday.
"We believe that we will get the green light from the Eurogroup on Monday to continue the procedures" to complete the debt writedown with private bondholders and unlock funds, Greek government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said.
Eurozone leaders for several weeks have been negotiating Greece's desperately needed rescue package of 130 billion euros in fresh loans and a writedown on privately held government bonds worth 100 billion euros to avoid defaulting on debt owed on March 20.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said late on Wednesday that a conference call by eurozone ministers had "clarified" how to plug a 325-million-euro hole in Greece's 2012 budget and that remaining issues would be worked out by Monday.
"Other issues, technical but basically political, will be prepared at a euro working group in Brussels on Sunday," Venizelos said, who warned dramatically on Wednesday that some countries no longer wanted Greece in the eurozone..
"This will in good time lead to a final decision" on the approval of the eurozone bailout and a "public announcement" on a debt swap with private creditors worth 100 billion euros on Monday, the minister said.
Greek lawmakers on Sunday approved creditor-mandated austerity measures, including a 22-percent cut to the minimum wage, as rioters set buildings alight in central Athens.
Main unions GSEE and ADEDY on Thursday called for another protest on Sunday, and revealed plans for another general strike, the third this year.
"Democracy in Greece is irreparably hurt, it is now disabled," said GSEE chairman Yiannis Panagopoulos.
Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker had earlier said he was confident his colleagues could "take all the necessary decisions on Monday," when they next meet face-to-face in Brussels.
Greek newspapers spoke of "intervention" in the country's domestic affairs after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble questioned the wisdom of Greece holding early elections, arguing in favour of a government of technocrats similar to that of Italy.
"When you look at the situation in domestic Greek politics ... the question is: who is going to guarantee that what we decide now will also be valid after the elections?" Schaeuble told SWR radio on Wednesday.
His comments sparked an angry reaction from Greece's German-educated President Carolos Papoulias, and a rebuff from New Democracy chief Antonis Samaras.
Government spokesman Kapsis said the date of an election was a nation's "absolute right" while adding that Papademos had been in contact with several European leaders throughout the day, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.